Happy St. Patricks Day!

today has been super rainy and cold outside, the kind of day that you just want to curl up on the sofa with a book eat soup and drink tea. Lucky for us a friend had extra cabbage ( 3 heads to be exact) which meant soup on this cold day.
Now I did not use all three head of course, only half of one... and let me tell you this soup is so YUMMY! I love 101 cookbooks and they had a recipe for a Rustic Cabbage Soup.  I promise you are going to love it !


Rustic Cabbage Soup:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups veggie stock
1 1/2 cups white beans, precooked or canned (drained & rinsed well)
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons

more good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional, this part was not for me, I kept mine vegan)

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes - it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and the beans and bring the pot to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Now adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc)...

Serves 4.

New Years and Black-Eyed Peas - 2012

Well, being from Virginia I have been brought up on the tradition of eating Black-eyed peas every New Years day for good luck. Now, as the years have past and I have children of my own, I still do this tradition. I dont do the traditional recipe with Black-eyed peas called  Hoppin John with involves cooking the peas with a hamhock. This year I did a couple of different things: A Vegetarian style "Hoppin John" and  a black bean and black-eyed pea salad. Both Delicious!

I am sure some of you know already, but I though I would share, what I know to be the origin of this tradition: It has been said that eating black-eyed peas for luck dates back to the Civil War. General Sherman thought them to be a humble crop and would not steal them as he did with corn, collards and other crops. Perhaps this was the luck of the pea as it became a major food source. 

Now, not being a superstitious person, I still find that year after year I continue to eat this savory little bean on New years day. In a conversation with my brother on New Years day he has decided not to eat the bean and see how his luck goes. I think he is going to do fine beans or no beans! I wish him and everyone the best in 2012!! May you all prosper in what makes you happy

For those interested, I am including my recipes for Vegetarian Hoppin John and Black Bean and Black-eyed pea salad:

Vegetarian Hoppin John

Ingredients

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, rinsed 
1 medium yellow onion, chopped 
1 teaspoon dried thyme 
1 cup uncooked long grain rice 
2 strips tempeh bacon, chopped 
1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped 
Pinch of cayenne pepper 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Ground black pepper to taste 
Tabasco (optional)

Method

Put black-eyed peas into a large bowl, cover with water and set aside for 6 hours or overnight. 

Drain black-eyed peas, then transfer to a large pot. Add 6 cups clean water, onions and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until black-eyed peas are tender but still whole, about 45 minutes. Add rice, tempeh bacon, peppers, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Season with Tabasco, if you like. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Black Bean and Black-Eyed Pea Salad

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans corn or one bag frozen and thawed
1 can black beans
1 can black-eyed peas
1 red onion chopped
1 bunch cilantro
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all together and chill.

Next Time will have photos! So good did not have time to take!

Enjoy